


Pirate's Life

by Firstlove_thesea



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies), Pirates of the Caribbean: The Price of Freedom - A. C. Crispin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 00:35:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17273777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firstlove_thesea/pseuds/Firstlove_thesea





	Pirate's Life

**Chapter 1**

 

“Oi! Watch your step!” Sparrow growled at the stranger who’d just bumped into him the moment he’d stepped out of the tavern where he’d just spent the past couple of hours. As per usual at this time of night, the streets of Tortuga were awfully crowded and while any other day he wouldn’t have minded, he found it almost unbearable now.

“What’s wrong with you, sailor? ” the stranger’s voice reached his ear and he could only roll his eyes in annoyance.

“Why don’t you go mind your own bloody business?!” he snapped at her without really looking, for he could hardly see a thing in the dim light just outside the tavern.

“Well, it is my bloody own business if it affects an… old friend. Wouldn’t you agree to that, Captain Sparrow?”

Jack had begun to push past the person standing in his way, but stopped in his tracks at the call of his name. None of his crew had followed him there, they all had stayed aboard the Pearl so, all in all, it seemed terribly unlikely for anyone in that pirate harbor to know his name. He’d been there many times before, true enough and yet so much had happened since his latest visit… so much had changed, so much was different and he hardly looked the same. There was no way even a soul would recognize him from back then! And yet… the impossible had just taken place. The look on his face as he turned must have betrayed both his confusion and bafflement, for her brow arched up hardly longer than a moment or so before she asked. “You don’t remember me, do you?”

“I… think there might be a mistake, mate.”

Unaware to Sparrow, the woman frowned. Deep down she had hoped he’d recall who she was, but instead of giving up hope and turning her back on him, she remained somewhat optimistic. At least for now. Yes, he seemed to have had some rum, though maybe, just maybe there was still a way she’d trigger his memory even with a mind as intoxicated as that. Knowing Jack the way she did, she was convinced she could and she was determined to.

“Years ago at Shipwreck Cove, you used to take me out to picnics where we would spend hours lying on the beach simply enjoying each other’s company after watching the sunset.” She reminded, all the while searching his eyes in the dark for any sign of recognition. “Oh Jack, you really can’t remember?”

Hearing her speak of their past together, it slowly dawned on the young captain and he was, at last, able to put a name to the doubtlessly familiar voice. Taking a staggered step forward as so to get a closer look at her, he was studying her face in silence for a couple of moments, trying to decide whether or not he was right.

“Esmeralda…” he muttered then, almost certain he knew her name.

“Yes, Jack.” she confirmed. “It’s me.”

“Ah… Been too long since our last meeting, hasn’t it? And yet I should have recognized you the moment I saw you.” he grinned, gesturing to her with his hand. “You haven’t changed at bit.”

“Charming as ever, aren’t you?” she laughed

“No, no… by no means!” he disagreed with a shake of his head. “Merely telling the truth here, love”

“And still not quite able to resist the sweet temptation of rum, I see.” she pointed out when she noticed the slight and only too familiar slur in his voice. “Jack, how many drinks have you had tonight?”

“Not as many as I would have liked.” Sparrow muttered, grumpily.

For a moment she hesitated, trying to make sense of his words before she asked with a hint of concern present in her tone. “If you are saying that they refused to give you even more rum, then I couldn’t agree more. Seems to me you’ve had quite enough already.”

“You would know,” Sparrow grumbled. “bloody stupid to give up the only thing that helps ease the pain, don’t you think?”

“Pain?” she asked, confused. “Jack, are you hurt?”

“No,” he lied, but not particularly convincingly.

Her eyes then fell on the blood-stained spot on his right sleeve and boldly reached out to inspect the matter. And before Jack had even had a chance to try and stop her, she had pulled back the fabric and couldn’t hold back the gasp of horror at the sight that then met her eyes.

“Dios mío, Jack!” she gasped. “You have to have someone look at this! Fortunately, I know just the right person to do so. Come on now.

In response to that, however, Jack stubbornly yanked his arm away from her with an enraged growl under his breath as he spoke. “Won’t be needing your help.”

“Yes, you do.”

“I’m fine,” he protested.

“No, you’re not and you know it just as well as I do.” she insisted, not giving in to his obvious anger in any way.

“Have been through far worse than this before. ” he told her and the truth was that he wasn’t exactly lying. “Nothing to be concerned about.”

“And you expect me to believe that?” she frowned, skeptically, then she shook her head. “No, I won’t stand by and watch you neglect your injury any further. You might die if it becomes inflamed, Jack.”

For a moment the young captain had wanted to protest, but instead he sighed as he looked at her, then shrugged his shoulder. While he had wanted to try and argue with her, he still knew better. Had it been someone else, he might have kept up his lie, but there was no point in trying to do that with her. Not when they both could be equally as stubborn and not when she knew him as well as she did.

“You won’t give in, will you?” he asked a rhetorical question which she answered with a mere shake of her head. “Oh, very well then…”

“Good. Come along, then” she nodded, using her hand to wave towards the port where her ship was at anchor. “This way. Doctor Martinez will be happy lend a hand I’m sure.”

The way back to the Venganza wasn’t something Sparrow could remember in many details and to him, it seemed like mere seconds later that he found himself struggling to climb up the gangplank to a ship that wasn’t his. They had hardly reached her cabin when he realized something was off… something was wrong.

“This isn’t me Pearl…” he was devastated to notice.

“No, Jack. She’s not. That’s-”

“But where’s me ship gone?” he asked, unable to make sense of the situation at hand.

“The Pearl is safe at anchor, I’m sure. You are aboard my vessel, Jack. The Venganza, do you remember?”

Before Sparrow could answer her question, however, a man walked in and came to stand beside his captain. The two of them exchanged a few words in Spanish and by what little he knew of that language, he guessed she was asking him to treat his wound and he agreed with a simple nod.

“Aye, Lady Esmeralda.”

Struggling to keep his body in an upright position and feeling his knees begin to betray him, Jack was almost happy to lay down and finally feel her bunk beneath his back. The conversation between the woman and her surgeon continued but Sparrow found himself unable to keep track of what they were saying as the events of the past days and unbearable agony he was in, finally, took their toll and sent him off to a deep, dreamless sleep in mere moments.

 

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